A basic problem that has existed since the dawn of agriculture is that, while the human demand for fruits and vegetables often exists year round, the growing season does not. Many perishable commodities, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, meat and fish can only be grown and/or ripened during specific, typically short, times of the year. Furthermore, such commodities are often grown far from the markets in which they are sold and consumed. The time spent in shipping such perishable commodities still further reduces the practical time during which the perishable commodities can be sold and consumed. In the case of certain fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, etc., the time between when the fruit is ripe for harvest and when it begins to spoil is often short. This creates the dual problems of, for example, having too much fruit and vegetable being available during the peak of the harvesting season, and too little being available during the off, or non-peak seasons. Much effort has, accordingly, been directed toward extending the post-harvest life of fruits, vegetables, flowers, meat, fish and similar perishable commodities intended for human consumption and/or use.
One known technique for extending the post-harvest life of fruits and vegetables involves placing the perishables in a vacuum for storage. It has been determined by both Stanley P. Burg and the present inventors, that by placing harvested fruits, vegetables and other perishable commodities in vacuums from between approximately 10 to 150 Torr, often in combination with refrigeration, the degradation of the perishable commodities can be significantly slowed as compared to refrigeration alone.
Although the beneficial effects of vacuums on harvested fruit and vegetables are known, many problems exist in using such techniques in actual practice. Prior attempts have included building specialized refrigerated vacuum rooms, large ISO containers and/or large-scale containers for storing the perishable commodities after harvest and before shipment to retailers and consumers. Such rooms and containers are large, bulky, immovable and expensive. Although effective in reducing degradation during the time the fresh perishable commodities remain in the container, degradation at a faster rate resumes once the perishable commodities are removed for further shipment. Still further problems are encountered when the need to keep the perishable commodities hydrated under vacuum conditions is considered.
Accordingly, there is a heretofore unmet need in the art for practical, economical ways of reaping the benefits of vacuum storage for fruits, vegetables and other perishable commodities in the actual market for such goods.